


stop & stare

by archaeocyaths



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Fate, Ferris Wheels, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, kind of mutual pining?, past bad timing, seokmin has a cat, this fic is hard to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22537342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archaeocyaths/pseuds/archaeocyaths
Summary: For a long moment the fortune teller says nothing, and Seokmin can feel his hand start to sweat under pressure. Maybe he has a really bad fortune— or a really good one, and she’s trying to figure out a way to swindle him out of some more cash. Oh, God, this is all probably just some scam anyway.He sits there, melting under her silence, until she nods and looks back up at him."Love is coming your way very soon. In fact, it's probably right in front of you already."
Relationships: Lee Seokmin | DK/Yoon Jeonghan, past Yoon Jeonghan/unnamed character
Comments: 24
Kudos: 107





	stop & stare

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time writing seventeen fic and it came in a rush last night between 1-3am. enjoy!
> 
> [moodboard](https://twitter.com/kiiimline/status/1224166304506155011), [fanart!](https://twitter.com/lesbiansforjin/status/1248787868543332352?s=20)
> 
> thanks to [carina](https://twitter.com/noirhao) as always for the idea, moodboard, and beta.
> 
> (title from dream glow by bts)

Lights swirl all around Seokmin and children run by him, chased after by harried parents holding cotton candy or diaper bags. The sky is dark blue, not yet night but comfortably into dusk, and Seokmin isn’t sure what brought him here. 

He was on the bus heading home from catching a movie with Mingyu when the spinning lights of the ferris wheel caught his eye, and he yanked the stop request cord without really thinking about it. It’s been a long time since he felt so sure about a spur-of-the-moment decision so he’s letting himself just wander through the carnival, sure that the momentum will pay off somehow. 

It seems fitting that at that moment, his eye catches a booth draped in tacky, over-the-top cloths. Seokmin figures he might as well, walks up to the fortune teller, and sits in the chair across from her. She quirks an eyebrow. 

“6,000 won,” she says plainly, holding a hand out. Seokmin fumbles for his wallet and when he hands over the bills she catches his wrist, plucking the money out and turning his palm up to get a good view. 

For a long moment she says nothing, and Seokmin can feel his hand start to sweat under pressure. Maybe he has a really bad fortune— or a really good one, and she’s trying to figure out a way to swindle him out of some more cash. Oh, God, this is all probably just some scam anyway. 

He sits there, melting under her silence, until she nods and looks back up at him. 

“You have a complicated past,” she says frankly, “but your life line evens out pretty early. If things aren’t already smooth for you, they will be soon.” 

“Smooth how?” Seokmin asks, looking down at his hand like he’ll suddenly know palmistry and his position in the universe will make sense. 

“Here,” she says, tracing a finger along an indent that curves and meets a line at the top of his palm. “This is your fate line. It meets with your love line-“ her finger follows the intersecting line, “-and after that, your love line is strong and deep. Very even.” 

With that, she drops his hand and clasps her own, satisfied. “Love is coming your way very soon. In fact, it’s probably right in front of you already.” 

Seokmin’s a bit dumbfounded and he wishes that he could have the time to explain to her all of the reasons why that’s not true— how he missed his chance with someone who has a boyfriend, how the closest thing to romance is the monthly movie date Mingyu drags him out on so Seokmin doesn’t feel abandoned by his and Minghao’s relationship, how he’s not even looking for anything right now— but clearly the fortune teller is done with him. 

Seokmin bows politely in his chair before he leaves as quickly as possible, left even more turbulent inside than before. Now, his mind is racing with all of the memories he’d forced himself to shove to the back of his brain and forget— Jeonghan’s sweet laugh, the way he’d knock their shoulders together, the nervous fiddling of his fingers, the way his voice quavered when he told Seokmin that he just started seeing someone and wanted to see where things could go, he’s so sorry, if only Seokmin had told him earlier. 

In the rush of memories that pass through his head as quickly as the people around him push past, Seokmin almost misses him. They had fallen out of touch after Seokmin’s confession, but he’d still recognize Jeonghan anywhere. Before he can weigh the pros and cons of doing anything, a balloon popping somewhere behind Seokmin makes Jeonghan’s head turn. 

They make eye contact. 

Seokmin freezes, not sure what to do.

Jeonghan rushes towards him, jostling people out of the way, never looking away from Seokmin like he doesn’t believe he’s real. 

(Seokmin can relate.) 

Before Seokmin has the chance to prepare himself, Jeonghan is standing in front of him, a little out of breath. 

“Seokmin,” he says, a smile flickering against his face before deciding to stick. “It’s been so long, I— what are you doing here? How are you?”

“Your hair’s different,” Seokmin blurts out, the words overpowering anything else he could say. To his merit, he’s right— instead of the mid-length brown hair Seokmin was used to picturing on Jeonghan, his hair is bleached and cropped, with fluffy bangs.

Jeonghan just laughs and pulls Seokmin into a hug. “You’re just the same,” he says, and the relief in his voice makes Seokmin hug him back. 

When they pull away Jeonghan doesn’t let all the way go, his hands grasping at Seokmin’s shoulders to hold him in place. 

“You look good,” he says, scanning Seokmin up and down fondly. “I’m so sorry I haven’t reached out. Things with Jae didn’t work out and I’ve just been trying to get my head screwed back on straight for the past few months…” 

Jeonghan’s words fade as Seokmin’s ears flood with the rush of blood through his veins instead. He’s still trying to get over the shock of seeing the man who he was pretty sure had broken his heart three years ago, and this new information just makes it harder. He shakes his head a bit, just to get himself back under control, and realizes that Jeonghan is looking at him expectantly. 

“I— sorry, what’d you say?” Seokmin asks, color rising in his cheeks. “I’m just… a little shocked, I missed it, sorry.”

“I asked if you wanted to get a hot dog with me,” Jeonghan says softly, freeing Seokmin’s arms from his grip. He seems oddly shy, almost nervous, and somehow recognizing the feeling in Jeonghan makes it less overpowering in himself. 

“Of course, hyung,” Seokmin says, smiling. “I’ve missed you. We need to catch up.” 

Over hot dogs with overflowing levels of relish, mustard and sauerkraut (Seokmin) and a reasonable amount of ketchup and spicy mayo (Jeonghan), that’s exactly what they do. 

Jeonghan tells him about his relationship, how it ended up being Jeonghan just working too hard trying to keep them together, how much happier and freer he feels now that he only shares his apartment with his plants. Seokmin tries not to feel too jealous, or bitter, or whatever the sour feeling in his stomach is. He’s told himself a million times that it’s all in the past, that Jeonghan was free to do whatever he wanted with his life, and he knows that’s true. 

He also knows that he’s been lying every time he’s told himself that he no longer has feelings for Jeonghan. They rear up now, as Jeonghan nods encouragingly listening to Seokmin stutter out updates about his life and his cat. The way Jeonghan grips Seokmin’s hand to pull his phone closer to get a better view of the pictures Seokmin has pulled up makes his breath catch. He coos, and Seokmin wants to scream. 

In the time it takes for them to finish their hot dogs, they’ve fallen back into sync with each other. It had always been easy to be with Jeonghan, minus those last few painful weeks before they stopped talking. Despite how differently they acted externally, their minds worked in the same way, and that’s what made them become such close friends in the first place. 

Now, though, it means that when Seokmin is trying to find the right words to suggest they walk around the carnival together, Jeonghan gets to them first. Seokmin’s resulting grin is so blinding that it makes Jeonghan’s face light up, and with the mix of the colored lights from the rides around them, he’s more beautiful than Seokmin can remember. 

They meander around the fair, shoulders knocking as they bump into each other, still readjusting to sharing the same space. The conversation flows between them, covering everything from recently released music to how their widespread group of friends is doing. As they squeeze through a particularly crowded section of people, Jeonghan grabs Seokmin’s hand, lacing their fingers together so they don’t get separated. Seokmin’s sure that Jeonghan will drop it as soon as they get around the people, but he doesn’t.

Jeonghan holds on. Seokmin does, too. 

They end up on the edge of the fair where the ferris wheel stands, situated for the perfect view of the carnival. At this point, it’s dark out, the only light coming from the rides and the floodlights. Beyond the ferris wheel the light fades, the edges of the fairground turning into brush, bordering nothing. They get into line for the ride, their entangled hands second nature at this point. 

“You know, I always wished something could have happened between us,” Jeonghan says, looking forward. 

Seokmin startles and looks over at him, mouth dropping open in a surprised pout. He’s not sure what he’s supposed to say to something like that— what could he say, when Jeonghan drops a bomb like that so casually? Seokmin remembers wishing, dreaming for Jeonghan to say that to him. Years ago, it’d lead to a dramatic, romantic encounter and Seokmin would whisk him away into the sunset. 

Now, though, it’s a little devastating. 

“I told you,” Seokmin eventually gets out, because he has to say something. “I mean, I told you how I felt about you. You just chose him instead.” 

He watches Jeonghan wince, eyes falling to the ground, and a traitorous part of him is a little glad to see it. Internally, Seokmin knows he isn’t being completely fair. He knew Jeonghan was seeing someone when he confessed, and the whole situation was a lot more nuanced, and no one was really at fault. But still, being able to express his hurt to Jeonghan feels like getting rid of a weight on his shoulders that had been there for years. 

“I know,” Jeonghan says quietly, and he glances over at Seokmin for a moment. “I messed up. I hurt you, and it took me a while to realize that I hurt myself, too.”

“It hurt for a long time,” Seokmin admits, softening, “but we’re here now, right?” He tries at a weak smile, the earlier vindication giving way to the urge to make Jeonghan feel better. He knocks their shoulders together and squeezes Jeonghan’s hand. 

“We’re okay,” he reassures with finality, a little surprised to realize that it feels true. (Then again, being around Jeonghan had always felt so natural that maybe he shouldn’t be surprised at all.) 

Their conversation ends as they get to the front of the line, and Jeonghan has to pull his hand out of Seokmin’s to rip apart the proper amount of tickets for the ride operator. Soon enough they’re seated with the safety bar fastened securely over their laps, waiting in silence for the ride to start.

When their seat jolts forward, Jeonghan jerks towards Seokmin like it’s an instinct, like Seokmin will keep him safe. As they slowly rise higher, the fairgrounds below them seem even further away than they really are. The silence between them is charged, but Seokmin isn’t sure how. He doesn’t look over at Jeonghan, afraid to risk seeing his feelings, so instead he keeps his eyes trained on the view below.

From this height, the fairgrounds are in stark contrast to the land around them, bordered on one side by a quiet road but otherwise carved into an empty field. The bubble of floodlights and colored, spinning bulbs seems to be impenetrable by darkness, sealing the fair into a dreamlike state of eternal light. For whatever reason, the view evokes the fortune teller’s words from earlier, before Seokmin had turned around to see the man who had broken his heart three years ago: love coming his way, right in front of him.

He looks over at Jeonghan.

Jeonghan is looking at him. 

They meet in the middle, lips pressing together hesitantly, just for a moment. Seokmin brings his hand up to Jeonghan’s jaw, the touch reassuring, and Jeonghan surges closer to him to seal their lips together more urgently, all of the unspoken feelings between them merging as Seokmin’s lips part at the trace of Jeonghan’s tongue. 

It’s still too brief when Seokmin pulls away, his flushed cheeks giving away how affected he is. He can’t find himself to be embarrassed, though, not with the way Jeonghan is trying to hide the fast rise and fall of his chest. 

“Do you mean it?” Seokmin asks, because he has to know. Even as he speaks, he rests his arm on the back of the seat behind Jeonghan, letting it brush against his shoulders.

“I mean it,” Jeonghan says, leaning into the soft touch, inching even closer. “To be honest, I thought I had missed my chance with you. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, but then I turned around and there you were.” 

Seokmin smiles until his eyes wrinkle and he presses his forehead against Jeonghan’s. “There you were,” he echoes. “Right in front of me.”

**Author's Note:**

> [find me on twitter here!](https://twitter.com/kiiimline)
> 
> comments and kudos are always appreciated and make my heart so fuzzy!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [burst into colours (and carousels)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23002165) by [infrequency](https://archiveofourown.org/users/infrequency/pseuds/infrequency)




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